On March 2 Hurriyet published an article by Cihan Celik headlined 'PKK leader’s reading of the Arab Spring and ‘new’ Mideast'. "The fledgling peace efforts between the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state have taken a new turn with the second visit by deputies from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and the leak of the alleged “official prison records” of their meeting. The daily, which published the records, said the records were not “served” to them, and the source of the leakage remained a mystery as this article was being penned," the article reads.
"The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) pointed at the BDP for the release of the documents and labeled the disclosure as “an attempt to sabotage” the peace talks. There is quite many who think otherwise, suggesting the leakage is part of the “transparency” of the ongoing process. The authenticity of the documents was also doubtful and, even if they are real, the possibility that the records were “doctored” is highly unlikely considering both the BDP and the government’s elusive stance toward the details of the peace talks."
"Putting aside, if we can, the controversy and doubts over the source and genuineness of the records as well as the long-term ramifications of the leakage – as in whether it hinders the slow-moving peace push or boosts the success of it by making its course transparent – the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, supposedly appeared aloof to the changing equilibrium of the Middle East on the heels of the so-called “Arab Spring” turmoil," the author writes.
"According to the PKK leader, the Brits used Islam to bring down the Ottomans, and now their new “fabrication” is Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Öcalan said now they were fabricating “imams” after years of fabricating “generals” in the past, purportedly referring to the West, which he said is organizing a “revisited” coup against the PKK and his peace project."
"Overall, Öcalan’s differing approach ultimately hands Kurds conflicting tasks as he offered them an alliance to the Arab Spring at the micro level with macro-level harsh criticism of “Western-fabricated” political changes that are “no good” for the region," Celik concludes.
